“My red-tailed phoenix?” With a calm smile, Chu Liuyue turned to look at Tuan Zi and said, “It’s not surprising that you find it familiar. After all, Liu Yintong has one too.”
Jiang Zhiyuan frowned. No, that can’t be right. That definitely isn’t the reason why I find it familiar! I’ve seen Liu Yintong’s red-tailed phoenix before. Although they’re of the same race, hers looks different from this one because of the difference in bloodline purity. I can tell that they’re different! On the contrary, Chu Yue’s red-tailed phoenix looks a lot like the one I’ve fought with! I didn’t notice it before, but this one seems similar to that one now that I’m taking a closer look at it!
Once this thought emerged in her head, it stayed stuck in her mind.
“No, yours is different.” She stared into Chu Liuyue’s eyes with scrutiny. Something’s not right. Given Rong Xiu’s character, there’s no way he’d value someone so much for no rhyme or reason, much less let them stay with him. Not unless… he’s known that person for a long time and is very close with them!
Jiang Zhiyuan carefully studied the youth in front of her and tried to find hints of panic and fluster within him, but it was, unfortunately, to no avail.
“My fiend can’t be compared to, of course.” Despite being in the face of Jiang Zhiyuan’s interrogation, Chu Liuyue smirked. She sounded confident and calm, and her voice even carried hints of pride in it. It was hard for anyone to be suspicious of her. “You may take a longer look at it if you want. Its color is very beautiful, which is hard to see elsewhere.”
Jiang Zhiyuan didn’t believe Chu Liuyue and continued staring at the red-tailed phoenix.
Perched on Chu Liuyue’s shoulder, Tuan Zi looked like a ball of flame from afar with its red and feathery figure. When it sensed Jiang Zhiyuan’s gaze, it lifted its head to look at her before lazily burying its head into its wing again.
It was then that Jiang Zhiyuan realized that this red-tailed phoenix was a little different from the one she remembered. The color of its feathers and eyes seem a little darker. Am I… really mistaken?
Chu Liuyue then lightly patted Tuan Zi. “Go on!”
Tuan Zi looked up with sparkling eyes and rubbed its head against Chu Liuyue’s face before swiftly flying over to the fountain. As there were many people around, it restrained itself a little and landed on the stone next to the fountain. As the water gushed out of the fountain, it repeatedly poked its small head into the water as if it were about to fall inside.
As Chu Liuyue had been bringing Tuan Zi to the fountain whenever she was free, many people were used to this scene. Hence, Tuan Zi didn’t attract too much attention.
Chu Liuyue looked back at Jiang Zhiyuan, who appeared to be deep in thought. “Is there anything else you want to say? If not, my friends and I will be heading over to the fountain as well.”
Jiang Zhiyuan hesitated. Even though she wanted to pull Chu Yue to the side and question him, she eventually held herself back and turned to leave instead. “Xiaoxiao, let’s go.”
Liang Xiaoxiao hurriedly stopped her as she asked in surprise, “Eh? Why are we suddenly leaving? We’ve only just arrived!”
Jiang Zhiyuan frowned. “I feel a bit sick all of a sudden, so I want to go back and rest.”
Liang Xiaoxiao found this strange. She feels sick? But she was fine just now. Is she… upset over what Chu Yue said?
That must be it. Liang Xiaoxiao said, “Alright, I’ll go back with you.”
Jiang Zhiyuan shook her head though. “It’s fine. Just stay here; I don’t want to spoil your fun.”
Great! It’d be so boring if I went back just like that! Liang Xiaoxiao—who wasn’t too keen on leaving in the first place because this was the only day of each month that they could properly relax—asked, “Will you be okay on your own?”
Jiang Zhiyuan forced a smile. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”
Thereafter, she politely rejected the requests of a few young men to take her back and left on her own.
Liang Xiaoxiao shrugged her shoulders as she watched Jiang Zhiyuan leave. Even though she was best friends with Jiang Zhiyuan and had always gotten along well with her, the latter kept a lot of things from her. Besides, she was no fool, so she could naturally see that something was up.
It was just that she saw no need to question her about it. People of their status knew best the things they should and shouldn’t say. Even though she wasn’t super talented, she was at least capable of reading faces.
While Liang Xiaoxiao retracted her gaze and went to join the others to have fun, Chu Liuyue was reminded of what happened at Million Wine Mountain when she saw Tuan Zi stick its head into the water. There’s been a noticeable change in Tuan Zi, even though we’ve been coming here only in the evening. I wonder what will happen if Tuan Zi stays here for an entire month to awaken its bloodline power completely.
…
After leaving Million Wine Mountain, Jiang Zhiyuan quickly went back to her residence and carefully locked the door before sitting in front of the study table. After some contemplation, she spread out a piece of paper and took a brush to start writing a letter.
It didn’t take long before she finished writing the letter. She then carefully folded it and stuffed it into the body of a bronze bird she had prepared.
Once she injected some force into the bronze bird, it started flapping its wings to fly outside. It soon disappeared into the night sky.
Jiang Zhiyuan’s hands were clasped together in front of her, and her eyebrows were tightly knitted together. She was very suspicious of Chu Yue’s identity, not to mention that Rong Xiu’s attitude toward him was also highly suspicious.
After much thinking, she had decided to write a letter to her father in Fairy Water Mound and ask him to look into this matter. She wanted to expose Chu Yue right away even if there was the slightest bit of a problem with him.
…
It was all quiet in Jiuheng Peak.
With a ripple of the air, a tall, black figure suddenly appeared in front of the house. It was Rong Xiu, and it appeared that he had just returned from somewhere.
He was about to walk forward when he suddenly froze and looked up. All that could be seen in this dark night was the undulating mountains, but his dark eyes suddenly became murderous.
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, a dark force flew out and soon returned with a bronze bird.
Rong Xiu narrowed his eyes at the sight of the bronze bird.
Boom!
A soft blast was heard, and a letter dropped out of the bronze bird as it shattered into pieces.
Rong Xiu lifted his hand and caught the letter, which he opened and took a glance at. He then curled his fingers and crushed the letter into powder before taking out a white hankie to clean his hand.
A golden flame lit up and then burned the hankie into ashes.
It was only then that he turned around and entered the house.
